Sagem Seeker Chosen for MBDA's New Light Antiship Missile

Sagem (Safran) announced today a contract with long-standing partner MBDA to develop and produce the infrared seeker for the upcoming light antiship missile, the ANL/Sea Venom, a joint French-British program launched within the scope of the Lancaster House treaty signed in November 2010.

Developed by MBDA, this new-generation tactical missile will be deployed by a number of different helicopters, including the Royal Navy’s AW159 Wildcat, and the French navy’s Panther Marine and NH90. It will replace current missiles such as the Sea Skua and AS15TT.

Sagem, as prime contractor for the ANL/Sea Venom seeker, also chose the British company Selex ES Ltd to participate in its development and production.

Sagem’s seeker for the ANL/Sea Venom is based on uncooled detectors. Operating in demanding environments, the seeker will support the acquisition and tracking of surface targets (fast landing craft, light combat vessels) and land targets.

The seeker will send back images to the aircraft’s cockpit, contributing to the flexibility of the ANL/Sea Venom missile and its different firing modes: man out of the loop (MOTL), with the possibility of changing the assigned target during the missile’s flight; or choosing a precise impact point (fire & forget, with lock-on before firing or during the flight, etc.).

Sagem is contributing breakthrough uncooled infrared technologies to the ANL/Sea Venom program, based on optronic systems developed for the FELIN soldier modernization system and MMP medium-range missile programs. A long-standing partner to MBDA, Sagem developed and produces the infrared seekers for the Mica IR (infrared), Mistral and MMP missiles.